Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-03-24
FIRE AND DEATH.
Terrible Early Morning Holocaust
at Buffalo. N. z.
Destruction OF the Richmond hotel-In-
mates Leap From Windows In Their
Frantic Efforts to Escape-Many
Killed and Injured.

lamity has visited Buffalo The splendid
new Richmond Hotel. at the corner of Main
and Eagle streets, was totally destroyed by
fire early this morning, together with the
st. james Hall ard other adjacent property.
The most distressing part of the disaster is
the loss OF several lives. The rapidity of
the fire cutting of ali means of escape, led
some persons to leap for life from the win
dogs. Others got down fire escapes or on
Hayes'ladders raised by the fire department.
The shrieks and cries of the poor people
in the upper stories of the structure were
heartrending. One man. mad with terror,
leaped from the third-story window and
was picked up from the stone sidewalk on
Main street a mangled and bleeding corpse.
Several who succeeded in making their
escape were badly injured and burned and
some of them will probably die. Others,
more fortunate, escaped with slight in
juries. Many OF the wounded were taken
to the hospitals.
Robert Stafford, the senior proprietor OF
the hotel, with his wife, occupied rooms
on the second floor, and had a narrow es-
cape. Terror overcame everybody, and
even those who escaped in safety were in
many cases Frustrated by their terrible ex.
perienceS- There were 125 persons in the
hotel, twenty of whom were transient
guests; eight boarders and the remainder
porters, bell boys. families OF the propri-
etors and clerks. Twenty-Five of these
were rescued from the windows by the FIRE
en-, twenty-five are at hospitals, and
.nrge number made their escape by other
means. The origin Of the fire is not yet
known. William A Airport, the night
clerk, says: 1.-The fire started in the
cloak room under the main stairway, at
1885 o'clock. There was nobody up but
myself, Joe, the night porter, and Plum
mer, the bell boy. pulled all four of the
fire alarms on the different floors and poo
pie came flying down stairs in their night
clothes. The fire followed the elevator,
and inside of five minutes it reached the
top floor. rushed outdoors after doing all
[ could"
The large court in the center of the build
ing must have afforded scope for the fear
full blaze, for in less time almost than it
takes to tell it the flames shot upward
through the elevator and caught to the
topmost floor, and egress became a matter
Of extreme difficulty on every floor. The
first alarm was given by Policeman Henry
Clark, az 1885. A general alarm fol-
lowed. By four O'Clock the screams
Of the guests on the second, third and
fourth floors could be heard several
hundred yards, and the Hayes extension
ladders were early brought into requisition.
w OIlCH anu NGES III uiBnl
dresses out of the windows into the chill air
and carried by the fremen into the streets,
where they were wrapped in warm blankets
and carried to neighborlng houses and hotels.
The fire fiend got his work in SO rapidly that
there were many hairbreadth escapes.
Some of the women, after they landed
the ground, were obliged to stand
bare-limbed in the running water. before
they could be blanketed and carried from
the shocking At 4. 40 the whole
building, north, south, east and west was
all ablaze. At this time the extension was
raised to the fourth story and two women
were landed safely, but severely scorched-
Six streams of water were now playing on
the north end of the building from Eagle
street, but the brisk wind from the south
was battling the efforts of the hremen.
At 4:lO the blaze had only affected the
outside and the middle portion of the top
floor on Main street, but was making rapid
Roadway on the south side. About this
time a man attempted to make his escape
from one OF the lower floors, but fell through
the hands of the firemen, and alighting
on his head he was instantly killed. Five
girls were discovered in a fifth story win
dow, and were rescued with great difficult
ty by means of plank placed across the
alley to the top of BunnelI's museum. One
of the girls, while crossing the slender
bridge, fell to the ground, a distance
of four stories. She was not killed,
but was terribly injured. Her name was
supposed to be Mary Cornell, whose home
is at AL Hamburg street. Her legs were
terribly cut and bruised and her back
seemed to be verv badly injured and her
face and arms were in frightful condition
from burns.
William Purcell, Of this city, local agent |
of BraGstreet's, fell from the third story |
to the sidewalk and was killed instantly. |
John Kahn, New York, jumped from the |
fourth floor, injured back, leg fractured |
and hand and face burned. Mary Z. |
Witt, housekpeper of the hotel, is
badly burned on The arms and face. c. w.
W. Dubois. Syracuse, foot, hands and face |
burned His feet were severely cut by |
glass. F. <. Moore, Cleveland, hands and |
face burned. J. A. Finch, Scranton, fatally
injured. At the Emergency, DR..
Daniels attended to four patients,
whose names and injuries are as
H. B. Smith, Syracuse, feet, hands
and head severely burned; w. j. Mackey,
Niagara Falls, fell through the skylight and
hurt his back severely; Edward Wheeler,
hands, feet and face burned-fen one story
and badly bruised; Barry Davies, New
York, feet hands and face burned.
Triple Murder.